Underdogs (2013 animated film)

Plot

The film begins with the narrator telling his son, Matty, a story before going to sleep, one where he will have to use his imagination.

Many years ago, Jake, a timid boy and the best foosball player around, was working in a bar in a small and quiet town. He loved Laura, a girl he met in the bar, but she did not know.

While showing Laura the foosball table, a kid named Ace arrives and challenges Jake to a game in front of Laura. Although initially the kid beats him, Jake is victorious, and everyone at the bar applauds. Outside of the bar, Ace encounters a manager who offers to take him on.

Seven years later, Jake's simple routine falls apart when Ace becomes the best football player in the world, and returns to the small town to avenge the only defeat in his life.

Now that he is famous, Ace announces that he has purchased the whole village and builds a gigantic football stadium, although he is more interested in owning the foosball table where he lost to Jake and destroying the bar where he was defeated. He also wants to win the affection of Laura.

With foosball, the bar and even his soul destroyed, Jake discovers something magical: in the face of adversity, the town's foosball players talk and plan. Together they embark on a journey full of adventures to save Laura. Along the way, they become a real team.

Production

The film was announced on 27 November 2009. The voices of the main characters of the cast are Pablo Rago, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Fabian Gianola, Horacio Fontova and David Masajnik.

Sergio Pablos, executive producer and creator of the original idea and story for Despicable Me, acted as animation director for 20 minutes of the film, and advised Campanella on direction. The rest of the film was animated under the directions of Federico Radero and Mario Serie.

Puerto Rican band Calle 13 composed and performed the original song of the movie.

Release

An English-language version of the film was produced in the United Kingdom by 369 Productions with Vertigo Films handling the distribution rights and was released under the name The Unbeatables on 15 August 2014. The UK dub features stars such as Rupert Grint, Rob Brydon, Anthony Head, Ralf Little, Alistair McGowan, Peter Serafinowicz, and Eve Ponsonby.

In March 2014, The Weinstein Company acquired distribution rights for the film in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and France, with plans to release their own English-language version of the film under the title Underdogs. The US dub features Ariana Grande, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Morrison, Katie Holmes, John Leguizamo, Eugenio Derbez, Taran Killam, Bobby Moynihan, Chazz Palminteri, and Mel Brooks. The film was originally going to be released in 2014 but was pushed back several times. A week before a planned August 2015 release, the film was pulled from the schedule. It was released direct-to-video on 19 July 2016.

Critical reception

Based on 15 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a positive rating of 67%, with an average rating of 5.6/10. However, on Metacritic, the film currently has a rating of 38 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Box office

The film opened #1 at the Argentine box-office, earning 16,622,178 pesos on its opening weekend, outperforming other animated blockbusters such as Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University.